54. The Ultimate ComputerFORMULA: The Changeling + The Doomsday Device + Dagger of the Mind + a scene stolen from The Cage
WHY WE LIKE IT: A memorable performance by William Marshall as Dr. Daystrom, and the regulars aren't bad either.
WHY WE DON'T: Kirk destroys a computer using words alone... again?!?
REVIEW: Sure, we've seen Kirk at odds with all-powerful computers before, but there's the added layer of mechanisation costing jobs. Not that I believe for a second that a computer could eliminate the need for people to go into space (how was Daystrom proposing we handle landing parties exactly?), or that Starfleet would see this as a good idea. It does give the regular cast the chance to muse or agonize on the subject however, and they turn out some gems. Spock admires a computer's efficiency, but has no desire to serve under one. McCoy reminds Kirk that you never see anything wrong about machines taking another man's job, that's progress, but when it comes to yours, it's different. And Kirk questions his life-path as "Captain Dunsel". All well-played moments.
William Marshall is a good guest-star as well, teetering between megalomania and a persecution complex as the famous Dr. Daystrom. His conversations with the M-5 are powerful and edgy, and he probably does the best "neck pinch take" in the entire Original Series. The M-5 basically sits there and doesn't have much personality (certainly not as much as its creator), but its disintegration of a hapless ensign is rather shocking, and its final reasoning about murder is relentless.
The episode may not be on the level of the Dominion War effects shots, but for the first time, we get more than 2 ships onscreen together. It's fun to see more of the fleet, even if the bodycount gets a bit high as a result. Of course, all's well that ends well, and the regulars are back to yucking it up by episode's close. I don't much like the levity after hundreds of people have died, and besides, those scenes were mostly padding to explain how Kirk knew this or that, as if we couldn't understand it from just watching the show. Bleh.
LESSON: You can replace all the workers, but management will always have their jobs.
REWATCHABILITY - Medium: Except for the final scene and the Nth retread of the Kirk vs. Computer scenario, I'd watch it for the character development and creepy guest-stars (plural, not for Commodore Wesley, but for M-5!).
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